IOC refuses to recognize Lukashenko’s son as the head of Belarus’s Olympic Committee

The International Olympic Committee (IOC) has refused to recognize Viktor Lukashenko (Viktar Lukashenka) — the eldest son of Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko (Alyaksandr Lukashenka) — as the head of Belarus’s National Olympic Committee (NOC). This was announced in a press release on the IOC’s website on Monday, March 8.

The IOC has also refused to recognize the election of Belarusian Ice Hockey Association President Dmitry Baskov as a member of the Belarusian NOC’s executive board. In addition to his close ties to Lukashenko, Belarusian media has reported on Baskov’s suspected involvement in the death of opposition activist Raman Bandarenka in Minsk.

The IOC also made the decision not to “invite or grant any accreditation to any senior Government official from the Republic of Belarus for Olympic Games” and only liaise with the Belarusian NOC through the organization's Secretary General, Polina Golovina.

Viktor Lukashenko was elected the head of the Belarusian NOC on February 26. Prior to that, Alexander Lukashenko had headed up the organization for 24 years, and Viktor Lukashenko had been the NOC’s first vice president since 2019.

In December 2020, the IOC banned Alexander and Viktor Lukashenko from attending their events, including the Olympic Games. This decision was made in response to the politically-motivated persecution of Belarusian athletes.